STPEC OFFICE STAFF syllabus
STPEC 198Y section 1

Overview

STPEC office interns contribute to five general areas of work in the STPEC office:

  1. Collective process and consensus decision making
  2. Peer advising for current and prospective STPEC majors
  3. General office procedures
  4. Special Projects/Issue Projects

In addition to making substantial contributions to the flow of work, STPEC Office Interns participate in an ongoing social experiment in utopian organization. In staff meetings, paid staff and interns participate equally in making consensus decisions regarding current issues and future directions of the STPEC Program. Thus the meetings provide a real-life laboratory in which to explore practical questions regarding democratic organizational structure and workplace relationships, such as:

  1. How can we preserve an alternative structure that is imbedded within a hierarchy?
  2. How do we manage the tension between our vision of an ideal structure and the necessity of survival within the existing structure?
  3. How can we reinforce accountability without resorting to hierarchical structures?

STPEC office interns grapple with these issues on a very concrete level, in the process becoming agents of social change within the University.
Responsibilities

  1. Collective process and consensus decision making:
  2. Participate in consensus decision making at weekly staff meetings (topics of discussion will range from minute details of office work to broad aspects of program policy)
  3. Contribute to facilitation and minute taking for staff meetings
  4. Peer advising for current and prospective STPEC majors:
  5. Hold regular office hours for drop-in advising throughout the semester, plus extra hours during add/drop and counseling week
  6. Do intakes for students considering the STPEC major
  7. Assist the Director and Associate Director at meetings with students declaring STPEC as their major
  8. Assist with the compilation of STPEC course lists each semester
  9. General office procedures:
  10. General clerical tasks: mailings, thank you notes, photocopying, data entry
  11. Assist visitors and STPEC students (sell t-shirts, make photocopies, answer questions.)
  12. Open or close the office as needed based on your schedule of office hours
  13. Publicize events and speakers (postering, etc.)
  14. Special Projects/Issue Projects
  15. STPEC office interns may work individually or in small groups on special projects to benefit the STPEC community. Project ideas may be generated by students or paid staff;possibilities include alumnae services, website development, internship resources, etc. All special projects must be approved at the STPEC staff meeting.

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STPEC OFFICE STAFF syllabus
STPEC 198Y section 1
page 2

Training

STPEC staff will provide training in all areas of responsibility, including academic advising, STPEC office policies and procedures, consensus decision making, facilitation, assembling an agenda, taking minutes, and other aspects of collective process. Both trainings and staff meetings are mandatory. There will be an individual or small group initial office/advising training at the beginning of the semester and an additional advising training mid-semester before pre-registration begins. YOU MUST ATTEND BOTH TRAININGS as well as completing the advising checklist before you will be allowed to peer advise.

Attendance at Staff Meetings

STAFF MEETINGS ARE MANDATORY. If you must miss a meeting, please bring yourself up-to-date by reading the minutes. If you miss more than two meetings, you will be required to make up for each missed meeting by working an extra 3 hours in the office. Arriving at a meeting more than 30 minutes late will be counted as non-attendance.

Final Paper

The culminating experience of the STPEC student internship is a 3-4 page final paper (double spaced, 12 point type, one inch margins, correct spelling and grammar) in which you reflect on your internship experience, the STPEC office internship program, and how it related to larger social issues. We invite you to be candid and to make recommendations for how we can improve the office internship.

Grading

Grading is mandatory pass/fail. In order to pass, you must complete the following:

  • Hold regular weekly office hours and complete a total of 40 hours per credit
  • Maintain and turn in weekly time sheets including a description of your tasks
  • Attend trainings and weekly staff meetings
  • Facilitate 1-2 staff meetings
  • Take minutes for 1-2 staff meetings
  • 4-5 page reflection paper on your experiences